Health management system and health management method

ABSTRACT

A health care system includes a sampling means for sampling body fluid of a test subject person, an analysis means for analyzing the sampled body fluid, a transmission means for transmitting analytical data obtained from the analysis to a diagnosis means, the diagnosis means for diagnosing a health status of the test subject person from the transmitted analytical data, a server for storing and accumulating analytical data and/or diagnostic results, and a health-care-information display device for receiving and displaying diagnostic results or the like.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a health care system for performinghealth care of test subjects.

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years, together with the aging of the nation or withincreasing prices of medical techniques, national, the national medicalexpenses have been increasing more and more and year by year, coming upto the issue of cracking of the health insurance society. Against such abackground, it is said that there is a need for restructuring the systemfrom the conventional medical care centered on the symptomatic treatmentto another centered on preventive care. For this purpose, it isindispensable to achieve techniques for monitoring any changes in healthstatus day by day, or to establish early diagnosis and early treatmenttechniques for diseases.

Also in recent years, as the people has been becoming more and moredesirous of health, there have been developed body fluid tests concernedwith urine, blood, and the like as a means for acquiring personal healthstatus with accuracy. Those tests, particularly in analyses with thespecimen of blood (or serum, blood plasma, etc.), make it possible toobtain a large number of bio-parameters serving as indexes of healthstatus such as glucose concentration, lactic acid concentration, pHvalue, and oxygen concentration. These parameters can be known fromresults of blood tests at medical examinations executed by companies,schools, municipalities, or the like, or from results of blood tests atblood donation.

However, those blood tests at medical examinations or blood donationscan only be known once several months or once a year or so, and thuscannot be indexes that accurately show the physical condition thatchanges day by day. Further, it is not practical to frequently go tomedical facilities to take a blood test and get proper advice from adoctor based on acquired parameters, from a viewpoint that time andeconomical constraints are taken into consideration.

For these and other issues, unexamined Japanese patent publication No.2001-258868 describes a blood analysis method and apparatus that allowsa blood test to be easily carried out in the home without receiving anyspecial training. According to this, it is taught that parameters calledhealth markers, such as pH or oxygen concentration in blood can bemonitored by daily and easily executing a blood test at home.

However, even if a person having no expertise has found the parameters,it is quite difficult for the person to connect those with a healthimprovement, with the result that the person would eventually askdoctors or other qualified persons for advice.

Also, unexamined Japanese patent publication No. 2001-275996 describes ahealth care system that the doctor transmits advice to a subject personbased on biological information obtained from measurements made by thesubject person at home. According to this, it becomes possible for thesubject person to opportunely obtain advice useful for the person's ownhealth care from an expert without directly visiting the medicalfacilities.

However, even though useful advice has been obtained, a necessity ofadministration of pharmaceuticals, if included in the advice, wouldeventually involve moving to the medical facilities or pharmacy. Thus,it can occur that the opportune advice, fortunately obtained as it has,becomes no use.

In view of the circumstances as described above, an object of thepresent invention is to provide a health care system and a health caremethod which allow a person to receive proper medical services at propertiming, more specifically, make it easily achievable for the person tomaintain a good health status and prevent various diseases by receivingopportune health advice or administration of pharmaceuticals whilekeeping his/her own life pattern.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has thefollowing constitution.

According to the present invention, there is provided a health caresystem comprising:

-   -   a sampling means placed within a house of a test subject person        and serving for sampling body fluid of the test subject person;    -   an analysis means placed within the house of the test subject        person and serving for analyzing the sampled body fluid;    -   a diagnosis means for diagnosing a health status of the test        subject person from analytical data obtained by the analysis        means;    -   a server for storing and accumulating health care information        including the analytical data and/or a diagnostic result of the        diagnosis performed by the diagnosis means; and    -   a health-care-information display device which is placeable at        least within the house and which serves for receiving the health        care information and displaying the health care information.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a healthcare method comprising, in a state that a database is possessed in aserver, the database being at least one database out of: a database ofpersonal data which includes historical data of a test subject personsuch as historical data of analytical data, historical data ofdiagnostic results, historical data of pharmaceutical administration,and historical data of effects of pharmaceutical administration given tothe test subject person, constitutional data of allergy or the like, orgenetic information data, and the like of the test subject person; anintegrated database which is obtained by analyzing and statisticallyprocessing the personal data of the test subject person; and a databasewhich is of standard data such as data of diagnostic indices, data ofpharmaceuticals, human effect indication data, or prescription-relateddata:

-   -   transmitting to a diagnosis means analytical data derived from        an analysis of body fluid of the test subject person;    -   diagnosing a health status of the test subject person by the        diagnosis means based on the analytical data and the database        possessed in the server; and    -   preparing and/or administering a pharmaceutical to the test        subject person based on the diagnostic result.

According to the present invention, it becomes feasible to perform adiagnosis based on analytical data concerning the body fluid of a testsubject person and perform administration and preparation ofpharmaceuticals according to a result of the diagnosis, thus making itpossible for the test subject person to easily fulfill health carewithout being burdened.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

These and other aspects and features of the present invention willbecome clear from the following description taken in conjunction withthe preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a system configuration outline view of a health care system ina first embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C are flowcharts of the health care system in thefirst embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a data structure diagram in the first embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 is a view of a disclosure-information screen in a cellular phonein the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a view of a disclosure-information screen in the cellularphone in the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a view of a disclosure-information screen in the cellularphone in the first embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a view of a disclosure-information screen in a personalcomputer in the first embodiment of the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Before the description of the present invention proceeds, it is to benoted that like parts are designated by like reference numeralsthroughout the accompanying drawings.

Hereinbelow, before embodiments of the present invention are explainedin detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, various aspectsof the present invention are described.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provideda health care system comprising:

-   -   a sampling means placed within a house of a test subject person        and serving for sampling body fluid of the test subject person;    -   an analysis means placed within the house of the test subject        person and serving for analyzing the sampled body fluid;    -   a diagnosis means for diagnosing a health status of the test        subject person from analytical data obtained by the analysis        means;    -   a server for storing and accumulating health care information        including the analytical data and/or a diagnostic result of the        diagnosis performed by the diagnosis means; and    -   a health-care-information display device which is placeable at        least within the house and which serves for receiving the health        care information and displaying the health care information.

In this case, it becomes feasible to perform the diagnosis based on theanalytical data concerning the body fluid of the test subject person andperform administration and preparation of pharmaceuticals according to aresult of the diagnosis, thus making it possible for the test subjectperson to easily fulfill health care without being burdened. Forexample, when the test subject person is busy, or when the distance tothe medical facilities is long, the person is allowed to freely andeasily fulfill the health care without being bothered to go to themedical facilities. Still, since not only diagnosis but alsoprescription can be provided, even those of poor medical knowledge areenabled to freely and easily fulfill the health care. Further, since thetest subject person is enabled to know his/her own health status, italso becomes possible to obtain an ease of mind and moreover better thefuture living or reconfirm the administration of pharmaceuticalsbeforehand.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is providedthe health care system as defined in the first aspect, wherein

-   -   the diagnosis means and the server are placed outside the house        of the test subject person; and    -   the display device receives the diagnostic result derived from        the diagnosis means placed outside the house of the test subject        person and displays the diagnostic result.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is providedthe health care system as defined in the first aspect, wherein

-   -   the diagnosis means comprises an in-house diagnosis means placed        within the house of the test subject person, and an out-of-house        diagnosis means placed outside the house of the test subject        person; and wherein    -   the server comprises an in-house server placed within the house        of the test subject person, and an out-of-house server placed        outside the house of the test subject person, and    -   in diagnosing the health status of the test subject person from        the analytical data by the in-house diagnosis means, upon a        decision that the analytical data have departed from a        permissible range showing a state of healthiness, the in-house        diagnosis means transmits the analytical data to the        out-of-house diagnosis means and the out-of-house server outside        the house of the test subject person,    -   the health status of the test subject person is diagnosed from        the received analytical data by means of the out-of-house        diagnosis means, and    -   after transmitting the diagnostic result made by the        out-of-house diagnosis means to the display device, the        diagnostic result is displayed by means of the display device.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is providedthe health care system as defined in the first or second aspect, furthercomprising:

-   -   a pharmaceutical administration means which is placed within the        house of the test subject person and which serves for preparing        and/or administering a pharmaceutical to be administered to the        test subject person based on the diagnostic result; and    -   a control means which is placed within the house of the test        subject person and which serves for controlling administration        operation of the pharmaceutical administration means.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is providedthe health care system as defined in the first or second aspect, whereinthe server stores and accumulates personal data including historicaldata of the test subject person such as historical data of analyticaldata, historical data of diagnostic results, historical data ofpharmaceutical administration, and historical data of effects ofpharmaceutical administration given to the test subject person,constitutional data of allergy or the like, or genetic information data,and the like, and

-   -   the diagnosis means performs a diagnosis based on the personal        data including the historical data of the test subject person        such as the historical data of analytical data, the historical        data of diagnostic results, the historical data of        pharmaceutical administration, and the historical data of        effects of pharmaceutical administration given to the test        subject person, the constitutional data of allergy or the like,        or the genetic information data of the test subject person.

In this case, it becomes possible to provide the optimum diagnosis andpharmaceuticals to the test subject person.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is providedthe health care system as defined in the first or second aspect, whereinthe server stores and accumulates personal data including the testsubject person's historical data such as historical data of analyticaldata, historical data of diagnostic results, historical data ofpharmaceutical administration, and historical data of effects ofpharmaceutical administration given to the test subject person,constitutional data of allergy or the like, or genetic information data,and the like, for making the personal data available as an integrateddatabase that has been analyzed and statistically processed on asubscriber basis; and

-   -   the diagnosis means performs a diagnosis based on the integrated        database obtained by analyzing and statistically processing, on        a subscriber basis, the personal data stored and accumulated in        the server and including the historical data of the test subject        person such as the historical data of analytical data, the        historical data of diagnostic results, the historical data of        pharmaceutical administration, and the historical data of        effects of pharmaceutical administration given to the test        subject person, the constitutional data of allergy or the like,        or the genetic information data of the test subject person.

In this case, it becomes feasible to make decisions as to the healthstatus and the tendency of disease conditions from a comprehensiveviewpoint, or decisions as to the effect of cure with pharmaceuticals.Also, for newcomers of less personal data, it becomes possible toprovide high-accuracy diagnosis and pharmaceuticals from comprehensivedata.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there isprovided the health care system as defined in the first or secondaspect, further comprising a disclosure means for disclosing theanalytical data and/or the diagnostic result to at least any one of thetest subject person, a person permitted by the test subject person, anda person permitted by a health care organization to which the testsubject person belongs.

In this case, it becomes possible to protect the test subject person'sprivacy.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there isprovided the health care system as defined in the first or secondaspect, wherein the analytical data and/or the diagnostic result storedand accumulated in the server are stored and accumulated in the serveras the analytical and/or diagnostic result and a pharmaceuticaladministered to the test subject person are associated with each other.

In this case, it becomes possible to consider the relation betweenanalytical and diagnostic results and treated pharmaceuticals, andtherefore to conduct proper treatment with the test subject person.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is providedthe health care system as defined in the first or second aspect, whereinthe server stores and accumulates the constitutional data related toconstitution of allergy or the like of the test subject person and thegenetic information data of the test subject person, and wherein

-   -   the diagnosis means queries the constitutional data related to        the constitution of allergy or the like of the test subject        person or the genetic information data of the test subject        person stored and accumulated in the server to implement        disclosure of advice effective for the test subject person or        administration and preparation of a pharmaceutical effective for        the test subject person as the diagnostic result.

In this case, it becomes possible to provide a diagnosis andpharmaceuticals suitable for the test subject person's constitution.

According to a 10th aspect of the present invention, there is providedthe health care system as defined in the first or second aspect, whereinthe control means controls dosing time or quantity of the pharmaceuticalor type of the pharmaceutical with considerations given to a physicalcondition of the test subject person, pharmaceuticals that have alreadybeen administered, and pharmaceuticals that are scheduled to beadministered.

In this case, it becomes possible to effectively administer properpharmaceuticals to the test subject person to be actually administrated.

According to an 11th aspect of the present invention, there is providedthe health care system as defined in the 10th aspect, further comprising

-   -   a sleep-state detection means for detecting a sleep state of the        test subject person,    -   wherein after it is confirmed by the sleep-state detection means        that the test subject person is in a sleep, the control means        administers the pharmaceutical to the test subject person.

In this case, it becomes possible to administer pharmaceuticals to thetest subject person without requiring the test subject person'sattention.

According to a 12th aspect of the present invention, there is providedthe health care system as defined in the fourth aspect, wherein

-   -   the pharmaceutical administration means includes a        pharmaceutical analysis means, and    -   a pharmaceutical to be administered to the test subject person        is analyzed by the pharmaceutical analysis means, thereby        confirming that a result of the analysis agrees with the        pharmaceutical described in a prescription contained in the        diagnostic result.

In this case, it becomes possible to administer safer pharmaceuticals.

According to a 13th aspect of the present invention, there is providedthe health care system as defined in the fourth or 12th aspect, whereinat least one of type, product name, quantity, drag price, and sellingprice of the pharmaceutical that has been administered to the testsubject person by the pharmaceutical administration means is recorded toan area within the server where information related to the test subjectperson is stored and accumulated.

In this case, it becomes possible to conduct an optimum selection andpharmaceutical control for the provision of pharmaceuticals.

According to a 14th aspect of the present invention, there is providedthe health care system as defined in the first or second aspect, furthercomprising an advertisement disclosure means for disclosing to the testsubject person an advertisement of a commodity of a pharmaceuticaladapted to the displayed analytical data and/or diagnostic result.

In this case, the test subject person does not need to check informationon the pharmaceuticals or the like with his/her own effort, thus beingallowed to easily acquire the information.

According to a 15th aspect of the present invention, there is providedthe health care system as defined in the first or second aspect, whereinthe diagnostic result transmitted to the test subject person istransferred to the test subject person as voice information and/or imageinformation by an imaginary character previously set based on the testsubject person's gusto.

In this case, it becomes possible to favorably and alleviatively informthe test subject person of diagnostic information, health care advice,nutritional advice, or the like. Thus, the subject person's feeling canbe bettered, and actual effects of the health care system can beimproved.

According to a 16th aspect of the present invention, there is provided ahealth care method comprising, in a state that a database is possessedin a server, the database being at least one database out of: a databaseof personal data which includes historical data of a test subject personsuch as historical data of analytical data, historical data ofdiagnostic results, historical data of pharmaceutical administration,and historical data of effects of pharmaceutical administration given tothe test subject person, constitutional data of allergy or the like, orgenetic information data, and the like of the test subject person; anintegrated database which is obtained by analyzing and statisticallyprocessing the personal data of the test subject person; and a databasewhich is of standard data such as data of diagnostic indices, data ofpharmaceuticals, human effect indication data, or prescription-relateddata:

-   -   transmitting to a diagnosis means analytical data derived from        an analysis of body fluid of the test subject person;    -   diagnosing a health status of the test subject person by the        diagnosis means based on the analytical data and the database        possessed in the server; and    -   preparing and/or administering a pharmaceutical to the test        subject person based on the diagnostic result.

In this case, the administration and preparation of pharmaceuticalsaccording to a diagnostic result can be conducted, thus making itpossible for the test subject person to easily fulfill health carewithout being burdened.

Now, a health care system according to a first embodiment of the presentinvention is explained with reference to the drawings.

It is noted that, in the first embodiment, a blood-collecting device 3 aand an analysis device 3 b correspond to an example of the samplingmeans and an example of the analysis means, respectively. Further, theInternet 4, a communication line 9, and a health care system leased line11 correspond to examples of the first to third transmission means,respectively, and a pharmaceutical administration device 12 correspondsto an example of the pharmaceutical administration means. A personaldigital assistance (PDA) including the cellular phone 10, a personalcomputer, and a home page (or web page on the Internet) 8 correspond toan example of the disclosure means for analytical data and/or diagnosticresult (health care information) or the health care information displaydevice. Analytical data and/or diagnostic result are an example ofhealth care information, and the analytical data and the diagnosticresult, or the analytical data, or the diagnostic result is disclosed ordisplayed as an example of the health care information by the disclosuremeans or the health care information display device.

The following description will be given on a case in which the testsubject person belongs to a health care organization intended for healthcare or disease control over a plurality of subscribers, as an example,in the first embodiment, an enterprise's health insurance society andthe health insurance society operates the health care system in detail.

In addition, needless to say, it is also preferable that the form of thehealth care organization that operates the health care system is a lifeinsurance company, an enterprise conducting the business of health care,a school juridical organization, a local government, or the like withoutbeing limited only to an enterprise's health insurance society.

Also, although the description of the first embodiment will be given onan example case where the body fluid is blood, yet it is also possiblethat saliva, urine, lymph, or the like may be sampled and analyzed.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of system configuration of the health caresystem according to the first embodiment, and FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C showflowcharts of the health care system. A subscriber 1, who is a testsubject person being a subscriber of the health insurance society,collects his/her own blood 2 at his/her own residence or home 14 byusing the blood-collecting device 3 a, which is an example of thesampling means, and performs a component analysis of the blood 2 by theanalysis device 3 b, which is an example of the analysis means (step S1in FIGS. 2A to 2C). The blood-collecting device 3 a and the analysisdevice 3 b may be given by a blood collection-and-analysis integratedinstrument 3 of the palmtop size which is generally called micro TAS(micro total analysis system), or by those intended to do the bloodcollection and the analysis with separate instruments, for example, todo the blood collection with an injector (a concrete example of theblood-collecting device 3 a) and to do the analysis with a biochemicalanalyzer (a concrete example of the analysis device 3 b).

Contents of the analysis differ depending on the purpose of the healthcare or disease control for the subscriber 1. If the principal purposeof the subscriber 1 is daily health care of the subscriber 1, thenanalysis items to be measured are bio-parameters serving as indices ofhealth status such as the glucose concentration, lactic acidconcentration, pH value, or oxygen concentration of the blood 2. Thesebio-parameters can be determined by concentration measurement by meansof ISFETs (Ion-Sensitive Field Effect Transistors), absorbancemeasurement of a solution after chemical reaction, measurement ofoxidation-reduction potential, or the like. Also, if the principalpurpose is disease onset control of the subscriber 1, then microdosespecimen measurement with proteome chips or antibody chips capable ofanalyzing proteins or antibodies that have developed within the body ofthe subscriber 1 is performed.

Analytical data analyzed by the analysis device 3 b, after once recordedin a home server 7 b installed in the subscriber's home 14, istransmitted via the Internet 4, which is an example of the firsttransmission means, to a transmitting/receiving section 5 a of healthcare apparatus 5 of a health care center run by the health insurancesociety, and then recorded in a server 7 a of the health care apparatus5 of the health care center under the control of a control section 5 g(step S2 in FIGS. 2A-2C). The control section 5 g controls variousoperations performed by the health care apparatus 5. The transmission ofanalytical data to the transmitting/receiving section 5 a of the healthcare apparatus 5 in the health care center is effected normally eachtime new analytical data is obtained. However, in the case where thesubscriber 1 is in a good health status so that the obtained analyticaldata does not lead to the reception of a diagnosis, for example, in acase where it is decided from a comparison between new analytical dataand the preceding-time acquired analytical data by the control means 7 cof the server 7 a that there are almost no changes therebetween or thatthere is only such a small change as to require neither pharmaceuticaladministration nor doctor's advice, the analytical data, without beingtransmitted each time, may as well be transmitted to thetransmitting/receiving section 5 a of the health care apparatus 5 of thehealth care center, for example, once a week. Consequently, in thiscase, there is produced a merit that the throughput of informationprocessing by the server 7 a can be reduced.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the server 7 a, there has been stored andaccumulated subscribers-in-whole data 100 including personal data(personal database) 101, similar personal data (personal database) 102of another subscriber α, and similar personal data (personal database)103 of another subscriber β, where the personal data includes pastrecords of the subscriber 1, i.e., historical data 120 of his/heranalytical data of up to the present time, data 121 of diagnostic resulthistory (symptoms, degrees of diseases, or their degrees of progress),data 122 of pharmaceutical administration history (pharmaceuticals fortreatment, dosage frequency, dosage time, dosage amount, kinds ofpharmaceuticals, etc.), historical data 123 such as histories of effects(side effects or effects) of pharmaceutical administration given to thesubscriber 1, constitutional data 124 of the subscriber 1 such asallergy, genetic information data 125 of the subscriber 1,pharmaceutical screening data 126, and the like. Also stored andaccumulated is an integrated database or the like resulting fromanalyzing and statistically processing the personal data on a wholesubscriber basis or on subscriber-unit bases grouped according to theirages, sexes, or districts (prefectural administrative divisions, ormunicipal divisions such as cities, towns, and villages, or otherdivisions). In this connection, the subscribers-in-whole data 100 may begiven only by an integrated database without including the personaldatabases 101, 102, 103, . . . In this case, for example, the personaldata (personal database) of the subscriber 1 is stored and accumulatedin the home server 7 b of the subscriber 1, the personal data (personaldatabase) of the subscriber α is stored and accumulated in the homeserver 7 b of the subscriber α, and the personal data (personaldatabase) of the subscriber β is stored and accumulated in the homeserver 7 b of the subscriber β. However, when the subscriber 1 and thesubscriber α use an identical home server 7 b, the personal data(personal database) of the subscriber 1 and the personal data (personaldatabase) of the subscriber α may be stored and accumulated in the samehome server 7 b in a discriminable state.

Further in the server 7 a, there may be contained standard data(standard database) 140 such as data 141 of diagnostic indices(symptoms, degrees of diseases, or their degrees of progress) based ongeneral analytical data, data 142 of applied pharmaceuticals (dataconcerning pharmaceuticals such as pharmaceuticals for treatment, dosagefrequency, dosage time, dosage amount, kinds of pharmaceuticals, etc.based on the above diagnostic indices), human effect indication data 143of pharmaceuticals such as side effects or allergic reaction on theapplied pharmaceuticals, prescription-related data 144 ofpharmaceuticals such as side effects due to combinations ofpharmaceuticals, and the like, in which case this standard data 140 maybe used in diagnosis by the later-described diagnosis means 6. The humaneffect indication data 143 stored and accumulated in the database of thestandard data 140 has been prepared based on precautions for use orcontents of press releases published by pharmaceutical companies, andpharmaceuticals and medical devices safety information (emergency safetyinformation, pharmaceuticals safety information, etc.) announced by theMinistry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Among others, emergency safetyinformation announced by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare isparticularly important. This is information as to side effects that havebeen found after the sales of pharmaceuticals, and needs to be reflectedon the database concurrently with the announcement.

The diagnosis means 6 automatically makes a diagnosis by a computerprogram based on the standard data 140 such as the personal data 101,102, 103, . . . , the subscribers-in-whole data 100, the data 14.1 ofdiagnostic indices, the data 142 of applied pharmaceuticals, the humaneffect indication data 143, and the prescription-related data 144 ofpharmaceuticals (step S3 of FIGS. 2A-2C).

The diagnosis means 6, which performs diagnosis operations under thecontrol of the control section 5 g, for example, analyzes symptoms orthe like by analytical data transmitted from the home server 7 b of thetest subject person to the transmitting/receiving section 5 a of thehealth care apparatus 5 of the health care center, and by the data 141of diagnostic indices, thereby determining pharmaceuticals or the likeapplied according to the data 142 of pharmaceuticals. In this process,the diagnosis means 6 takes into consideration further considerations sothat the pharmaceuticals applied based on the human effect indicationdata 143 or the prescription-related data 144 are more suited to thetest subject person.

The above diagnosis has been made based on the analytical data and thestandard data 140. Otherwise, the diagnosis may also be made based onpersonal data, for example, it is also possible to considercomprehensive decisions as to the person's symptoms (decisions as towhether the symptoms or the health status has undergone successfultransitions from the past, or has not been improved, or other decisions,or a decision as to new symptoms) based on the history of analyticaldata of the person and the history of diagnostic results, or an optimumselection of pharmaceuticals for the relevant person based on the humaneffect indication data 143, or combinations of pharmaceuticals thatinvolve less side effects or less pharmaceutical dosage amount andpharmaceutical dosage frequency based on the prescription-related data144.

The reasons of considering not only the historical data 120 ofanalytical data and the data 121 of diagnostic-result history but alsovarious types of other information in making the diagnosis are describedbelow. Among pharmaceuticals, there are some types of ones that willproduce very useful effects for some persons, but that will giveunnecessary effects for others. Side effects are typical examplesthereof, and there are some cases where the pharmaceuticals have largereffects in side effects than in pharmaceutical effects. Factors relatedto side effects can be exemplified by interactions with currentlyadministered other pharmaceuticals or the person's constitution. In viewof these points, a diagnosis including the prescription ofpharmaceuticals is conducted after fully checking interactions ofpharmaceuticals scheduled to be administered with other pharmaceuticalsadministered in the past or other pharmaceuticals being currentlyadministered, reactions of previous administration of the samepharmaceuticals, known influences given by the pharmaceuticals to suchconstitutions as allergy, genetic affinities with pharmaceuticals thatdiffer among individuals, or the like. For example, terfenadine, whichis one kind of antihistamine, is known as a medicine for allergicrhinitis and urticaria or a medicine that suppresses attacks ofbronchial asthma, and it is assumed that sufficient precautions areneeded for its prescription and dosage of terfenadine. In the relationof terfenadine with constitution, terfenadine is designated as acontraindication to those having liver function disorder, those havingcardiac failure, cardiac infarction, and bradycardia, and the like.Also, in relations of terfenadine with other pharmaceuticals, its usewith itraconazole, miconazole, or like other pharmaceuticals isdesignated as a contraindication because of a possibility that sideeffects of the cardiovascular system such as ventricles arrhythmia mayappear. Further, also in the relation between terfenadine and foods,there have been clinical test results that its simultaneousadministration together with grapefruit juice caused the recognition ofchanges in conditions, although it could not be said to be a side effectsymptom. In addition, as Troglitazone (trade name: NOSCAL), which is anantidiabetic drug, has side effects that could cause a serioushepatopathy and was stopped from sale in 2000, its side effects werefound to be due to a factor of defects of specific genes. In order toavoid these and other adverse effects, preferably, the human effectindication data 143 showing possible side effects or allergic reactionor the like and the prescription-related data 144 showing side effectsdue to combinations of pharmaceuticals are preparatorily built up into adatabase as the standard data 140 with respect to all of pharmaceuticalsthat this system can prescribe for subscribers, the individualperson-basis constitutional data 124, the genetic information data 125,the historical data 122 of pharmaceutical administration, the historicaldata 123 of effects of pharmaceutical administration given to thesubscriber 1, and the like are preparatorily built up into a database aspersonal data 101, 102, 103, . . . , and pharmaceuticals that couldcause adverse effects on the relevant subscriber due to theiradministration are built up into a database as pharmaceutical screeningdata 126 by checking personal data for standard data from subscriber tosubscriber. Once the pharmaceutical screening data 126 has beenprepared, it is no longer necessary to query the standard database andthe personal database at each time of prescription, hence quite highefficiency.

In this connection, the analytical data are preferably recorded inassociation with pharmaceuticals that were administered to thesubscriber 1. Since effects of the pharmaceutical administration havebeen reflected on the analytical data, recording and accumulating thekinds of administered pharmaceuticals and their effects with respect tothe subscriber 1 in correlations therebetween means screening effectivepharmaceuticals and less effective pharmaceuticals for the subscriber 1,so that the more the data are accumulated, the more the administrationof pharmaceuticals can be effective.

Also, as shown in FIG. 3, data showing correlations among constitution,administered pharmaceuticals, analytical data, and the like, such asdata 131 of analytical-data analysis results, data 132 of constitutionanalysis results, data 133 of genetic-information analysis results, anddata 134 of administered-pharmaceuticals analysis results arepreparatorily stored in the server 7 a from the accumulated data of allthe subscribers so as to be built up into a database as correlation data130. Then, by performing further analyses and examinations based on thisdatabase, it becomes possible to fulfill effective pharmaceuticaladministration even for those subscribers who have just joined thesystem and whose own personal data have been less accumulated.

For example, by referring to data of a subscriber (subject person) whoseconstitution is similar to a first-time subscriber and whose data havealready been accumulated, it becomes possible to fulfill more properdiagnosis and the provision of pharmaceuticals even for the first-timesubscriber by using the referenced subject person's analytical data,data 121 of diagnostic result history, historical data 122 ofpharmaceutical administration, and the like. Given pharmaceuticals X andY for one disease case A, in order to make it known beforehand which ofthem is more effective and safer to administer, the correlation databaseof the correlation data 130 is preferably used. Within the correlationdatabase are accumulated analytical data of all the subscribers invarious cases, as the data 131 of analytical-data analysis resultsincluding, for example, “analytical data results in a case where thecase A appeared to a person of constitution B and where thepharmaceutical X was administered,” and “analytical data results in acase where the case A appeared to a person of constitution B and wherethe pharmaceutical Y was administered,” and “analytical data results ina case where the case A appeared to a person of constitution C and wherethe pharmaceutical X was administered,” and the like. The diagnosismeans 6 can offer optimum prescriptions based on considerations of thesubscriber 1's intent (cost, dosage amount, or dosage timing etc.) inaddition to the data 131 of analytical-data analysis results.

It is also useful to exploit this correlation database for research anddevelopment of new pharmaceuticals.

For example, by analyzing and examining in detail the correlationdatabase formed from correlations among the constitution-analysis resultdata 132, the administered-pharmaceuticals analysis result data 134, theanalytical-data analysis result data 131, and the like, from theaccumulated data of all the subscribers, it becomes implementable totake into account the effects of pharmaceuticals administered to asymptom of a one-type-of-constitution person to develop pharmaceuticalssuited to the person's constitution.

It becomes also implementable to grasp an issue of unimproved symptom orconstitution based on the correlation database to thereby progressresearch and development specialized to the issue.

Thus, by using the correlation database, it also becomes possible toprogress the development of pharmaceuticals in line with the actualcircumstances and to reduce periodical and economic losses fordevelopment of pharmaceuticals that involve trial and error.

By further referring to the personal data in addition to the correlationdatabase, it also becomes possible to progress the development ofpharmaceuticals suited to the person.

It is noted here that although the diagnosis means 6 performs theprocessing by reading various types of data such as analytical data fromthe server 7 a in the above case, it is also possible that various typesof data are not stored in the server 7 a, but the diagnosis means 6itself may contain those data individually.

Further, the diagnosis means 6 may also be one without problem in which,under the control of a control section 4 g, information as to adiagnosis performed by the diagnosis means 6 based on the records storedand accumulated in the server 7 a is transmitted from thetransmitting/receiving section 5 a of the health care apparatus 5 of thehealth care center to personal computers or personal digital assistants(PDAs) of qualified persons such as doctors, pharmacists, anddietitians, asking qualified persons for a decision as to the propernessof the diagnostic information, and in which decision results arereceived by the transmitting/receiving section 5 a of the health careapparatus 5 of the health care center, and then the diagnosticinformation is corrected to a more proper diagnosis by the diagnosismeans 6, thus a diagnosis being formed.

The diagnostic results are recorded to the server 7 a, like theanalytical data, as the historical data 121 of diagnostic results (stepS4 in FIGS. 2A to 2C). The diagnostic results are preferably recorded asthe historical data 121 of diagnostic results in association with thepharmaceuticals administered to the subscriber 1, also like theanalytical data. The historical data 120 of analytical data, thehistorical data 121 of diagnostic results, and the historical data 122of administered pharmaceuticals are also preferably recorded inassociation. Although a prescription of pharmaceuticals is included inthe diagnostic results, combinations of pharmaceutical kinds recentlyadministered and pharmaceuticals to be administered this time caninclude such pharmaceuticals as could cause new side effects and thatare not present in the database. In order to avoid such administration,it is desirable that pharmaceuticals administered to the subscriber 1and diagnostic results are recorded in association with each other.

Also, analytical-data and diagnostic-result records of the subscriber 1are disclosed in a home page (or a web page on the Internet) 8 of thehealth care center, which is an example of the disclosure means that canbe controlled by the health care apparatus 5 of the health care center(step S5 in FIGS. 2A to 2C). Those who can access the home page arepersons who have been subjected to the checking of ID number, password,or personal authentication or the like and who have passed this, thatis, permitted ones among the subscribers 1 and persons of healthinsurance societies to which the health care apparatus 5 of the healthcare center for primarily performing the diagnosis of test subjectpersons as well as the test subject persons of subscribership belong. Itis noted that the disclosure means, not limited to the home page (or webpage on the Internet) 8, may well be a system, as an example, in whichwhen an access applicant has posed a request for information disclosureto the health care center, the transmitting/receiving section 5 a of thehealth care apparatus 5 of the health care center transmits a reply tothe access applicant as encrypted data.

The diagnostic results formed by the diagnosis means 6 are transmittedby the transmitting/receiving section 5 a of the health care apparatus 5of the health care center under the control of the control section 5 gfrom the server 7 a via a communication line 9, which is an example ofthe second transmission means and which is provided for personal digitalassistants (PDAs) including cellular phones and the like, to thecellular phone 10, which is an information terminal device such as apersonal digital assistant (PDA) owned by the subscriber 1 and which isan example of the disclosure means or health-care-information displaydevice (step S6 in FIGS. 2A-2C). In the first embodiment, from this on,the following description is given by using the cellular phone 10 as anexample of the disclosure means or health-care-information displaydevice which can be placed at least within the residence and whichserves for receiving the health care information and displaying thehealth care information.

In this way, the subscriber 1 is allowed to know his/her own diagnosticresults. FIG. 4 shows an example of disclosure information to bedisclosed on the screen of the cellular phone 10. In FIG. 4, “You havecaught a slight cold” is displayed as a diagnostic result. Further,“Take vitamin C”, “Take fruits”, and “Take more sleep” are displayed asadvice in addition to the diagnostic result. The advice in addition tothe diagnostic result includes such pieces of advice as health careadvice, nutritional advice, mental hygiene-related advice, or othersuseful for the subscribers' health care. With reference to these, thesubscriber 1 is enabled to fulfill daily health care by reflecting thesepieces of advice on his/her meals, exercise, sleeping, or other actions.In the case shown in FIG. 4, a prescription of pharmaceuticals given tothe subscriber 1 is not included in the diagnostic result, and no morethan advice is given. In such a case, the operations of this health caresystem come to an end at this point (step S7 in FIGS. 2A-2C).

Next described is a case where a prescription of pharmaceuticals givento the subscriber 1 is included in the diagnostic result. The diagnosticresult is transmitted from the transmitting/receiving section 5 a of thehealth care apparatus 5 of the health care center via ahealth-care-system exclusive line 11, which is an example of the thirdtransmission means, to the pharmaceutical administration device 12 thatprepares pharmaceuticals to be administered to the subscriber 1 (stepsS6-S9 in FIGS. 2A-2C). A prescription for pharmaceuticals (data onadministered pharmaceuticals) is included in the diagnostic result, andthe pharmaceutical administration device 12 extracts and setpharmaceuticals 13 that should be administered to the subscriber 1 fromwithin an unshown pharmaceutical stock according to this prescription(step S11 in FIGS. 2A-2C). Referring to a concentrate example, when theprescription describes “Administration: liquid drug A, 0.1 g”, thepharmaceutical administration device 12 sets a portion of 0.1 g from theliquid drug A in the pharmaceutical stock to a syringe. Then, thepharmaceuticals 13 set in the pharmaceutical administration device 12are administered to the subscriber 1 (step S15 in FIGS. 2A-2C).

In this case, it is much preferable that the pharmaceuticaladministration device 12 includes the pharmaceutical analysis means 40(step S10 in FIGS. 2A-2C). It can potentially occur with highpossibility that another liquid drug B may be erroneously disposed at aplace where the liquid drug A should be disposed. In such a case, inorder to avoid any misadministration in advance, the pharmaceuticalanalysis means 40 analyzes the pharmaceuticals before setting thepharmaceuticals to the syringe, checking to confirm whether actual kindsof pharmaceutical are in correspondence to the kinds of pharmaceuticalsdescribed in the prescription (step S10 in FIGS. 2A-2C). As a result ofthe confirmation, if the pharmaceutical that should be a liquid drug Ais not a liquid drug A, the pharmaceutical administration device 12immediately stops the operation of administration to the subscriber 1,transmitting occurrence of an abnormality to the transmitting/receivingsection 5 a of the health care apparatus 5 of the health care center(steps S10, S20 in FIGS. 2A-2C), where contents thereof are stored andrecorded to the server 7 a under the control of the control section 5 g(step S4 in FIGS. 2A-2C). Also, the health care apparatus 5 of thehealth care center, under the control of the control section 5 g,contacts the cellular phone 10 of the subscriber 1, giving instructionsfor correction of the mis-disposition and administration of the liquiddrug A in another way. Further, as a result of the confirmation, if thepharmaceutical that should be a liquid drug A is a liquid drug A, thepharmaceutical is extracted and set (step S11 in FIGS. 2A-2C).

Preferably, the pharmaceutical analysis means 40 is implemented by amicro TAS (Micro Total Analysis System) The micro TAS capable ofanalysis with infinitesimal amounts of samples is much preferred fromthe viewpoint of eliminating waste of the pharmaceuticals 13. As shownabove, confirming the pharmaceuticals 13 to be administered makes itpossible to ensure the subscribers' safety and to provide an ease ofmind as well.

These sequential operations of the pharmaceutical administration device12 are carried out under the control of the control means 41, morespecifically, under the control of the control means 41 that hasreceived a control signal from the control section 5 g driven andcontrolled by a control program 16 present in the server 7 a of thehealth care apparatus 5 of the health care center. The control program16 is a computer program, which controls the pharmaceuticaladministration device 12 from the transmitting/receiving section 5 a ofthe health care apparatus 5 of the health care center via thehealth-care-system exclusive line 11.

It is noted that the control program 16 may be provided in an arithmeticunit built in the pharmaceutical administration device 12, may controlthe pharmaceutical administration device 12, and may be provided in-thehome server 7 b.

In this case, in detail, the configuration may be as follows. Forexample, the diagnosis means 12, 6 for diagnosing the health status ofthe subscriber 1 from analytical data are implemented by apharmaceutical administration device 12 which functions as the in-houseanalysis means disposed within the subscriber 1's home 14, and thediagnosis means 6 which functions as the out-of-house diagnosis meansdisposed outside the subscriber 1's home 14. Also, the servers 7 b, 7 aare implemented by an in-house server 7 b disposed within the subscriber1's home 14, and an out-of-house server 7 a disposed outside thesubscriber 1's home 14. Further, in a case where a diagnosis of thesubscriber 1's health status is performed from the analytical data bythe pharmaceutical administration device 12, which is the in-housediagnosis means, and where it has been decided that the analytical datahas departed from a permissible range showing a state of healthiness,the analytical data are transmitted to the diagnosis means 6, which isthe out-of-house diagnosis means outside the subscriber 1's home 14, andthe out-of-house server 7 b. In another case where a diagnosis of thesubscriber 1's health status is performed from the analytical data bythe pharmaceutical administration device 12, which is the in-housediagnosis means, and where it has been decided that the analytical datafall within the permissible range showing a state of healthiness, theanalytical data are not transmitted, while the state of healthiness isdisplayed by the cellular phone 10, which is an example of the displaydevice. From the received analytical data, the subscriber 1's healthstatus is diagnosed by the diagnosis means 6, which is the out-of-housediagnosis means, and the diagnostic result by the diagnosis means 6,which is the out-of-house diagnosis means, is transmitted to thecellular phone 10 so that the diagnostic result is displayed thereon.

The control program 16 (or control section 5 g) is capable of producingadditional large effects by controlling the time of administration tothe subscriber 1. For example, it becomes possible to administer aplurality of kinds of pharmaceuticals which, if administeredsimultaneously, could potentially cause side effects, to the subscriber1 with a time lag. Thus, by the control program 16 (or control section 5g), it becomes possible to perform the administration to the subscriber1 by taking into consideration pharmaceuticals that have already beenadministered or pharmaceuticals that are to be administered.

Further, during the control by the control program 16 (or controlsection 5 g), it is also possible to perform the control of dosage timeor amount or types of pharmaceuticals to be administered, as well as theoperations, by grasping the physical condition of the subscriber 1 fromthe subscriber 1's perspiration, brain-wave data, and analytical data.

Furthermore, in terms of the control of dosage time, it is desirablethat the administration of the pharmaceuticals 13 to the subscriber 1 beperformed automatically while the subscriber 1 is sleeping (steps S13,S14 in FIGS. 2A-2C). As to the reason of this, taking pharmaceuticalsday by day is generally quite cumbersome and, in particular, it istroublesome for those who are free from any particular abnormalities inphysical condition to take pharmaceuticals only for health maintenance.Also, one is in a rest state while sleeping, and so the pharmaceuticals13 can be administered without a fear for abrupt exercises.

As the method of fulfilling automatic administration during thesubscriber 1's sleep, whereas a method of preparatorily setting a dripbefore bedtime is available, a needleless pressure syringe ShimaJET madeby Shimadzu Corporation is preferable as an instrument for preferablyimplementing the pharmaceutical administration device 12 that enablesthe automatic administration. This product is characterized by theabsence of an injection needle and, instead, so constructed as to injectthat a pharmaceutical is directly subcutaneously jetted instantaneouslyby high pressure through a small hole of a nozzle tip end. Theelimination of the injection needle allows the user to enjoy such meritsas a relief from pain and strain at a needle puncture, a decrease ofaccidents such as fracture of the injection needle, and a reduction ofpharmaceutical administration time. With this ‘ShimaJET’, for example,if the pharmaceuticals 13 are administered from the sole of the foot ofthe subscriber 1, then the pharmaceuticals 13 can be administeredwithout giving any pain to the subscriber 1 even during a sleep (stepS13 in FIGS. 2A-2C).

In the case where the automatic administration function is not provided,the subscriber 1 takes the pharmaceuticals 13, for example, by manuallydriving the pharmaceutical administration device 12 (step S54 in FIGS.2A-2C). In this case also, if the pharmaceutical administration device12 transmits administration records to the transmitting/receivingsection 5 a of the health care apparatus 5 of the health care center,administration records are automatically transmitted by thepharmaceutical administration device 12 (steps S55, S16 in FIGS. 2A-2C)

In this connection, it is much preferable to provide a sleep-statemeasuring device 42 for detecting that the subscriber 1 is in a sleepstate. When the administration device applies an operation to such asubscriber as described above, it has to be avoided that the subscriber1 suddenly moves during the administration of the pharmaceuticals 13,and the administration is desirably conducted in the subscriber 1'sso-called deep sleep state. For this purpose, it is also possible, forexample, to monitor the subscriber 1's motions by a video camera andadminister the pharmaceuticals 13 at a timing captured around a motionstop. Further, it is also preferable to check the correlations among thesubscriber 1's perspiration, brain-wave data, bedtime, time elapsed fromthe start of sleep, body temperature, and the like, and analyze thetiming at which the subscriber 1 is in a deep sleep. Moreover, it ispreferable as well to control ambient environments such as roomtemperature while monitoring the body temperature of the subscriber 1 bya thermograph so as to facilitate the preparation of an environment forthe subscriber 1's deep sleep.

FIG. 1 shows a case in which the sleep-state measuring device 42controls an air conditioner 43 (steps S14, S22 in FIGS. 2A-2C). When thesleep-state measuring device 42 has decided that the subscriber 1 is notin a deep sleep state, then the sleep-state measuring device 42 controlsthe air conditioner 43 to facilitate the preparation of an environmentfor the subscriber 1's deep sleep. The sleep-state measuring device 42normally monitors the sleep state of the subscriber 1 and, when havingdecided that the subscriber 1 has fallen into a deep sleep, actuates thepharmaceutical administration device 12 to execute the pharmaceuticaladministration to the subscriber 1.

As to a concrete example of measurement and control of sleep state,according to a technique disclosed in unexamined Japanese patentpublication No. 07-42999, it is implementable to measure sleep statusesincluding the subscriber 1's having fallen into a sleep, his/her fallinginto a deep sleep, the sleep's being a REM sleep, and the like bymeasuring the deep body temperature at a forehead portion of thesubscriber 1. Moreover, whereas it has been proved that one is in adeepest sleep at a deep body temperature of 35 degrees of the foreheadportion, there has also been disclosed a technique that the sleep stateof the subscriber 1 is controlled by performing such air-conditioningcontrol as decreasing the room temperature by one degree in response toa 0.5 degree increase of the deep body temperature of the foreheadportion from that of 35 degrees.

The control means 41 is associated with the sleep-state measuring device42, and the pharmaceutical administration device 12 is controlled by thecontrol means 41 based on results measured by the sleep-state measuringdevice 42.

In the case where the automatic administration function is provided(step S13 in FIGS. 2A-2C), the pharmaceutical administration device 12,after performing the automatic pharmaceutical administration to thesubscriber 1 (step S15 in FIGS. 2A-2C), transmits administrationrecords, i.e. information as to the fact of the administration's havingbeen done and the types, product names, quantities, drug prices, and thelike of the pharmaceuticals 13, to the transmitting/receiving section 5a of the health care apparatus 5 of the health care center via thehealth-care-system exclusive line 11, and the administration records arerecorded to the server 7 a (step S16 in FIGS. 2A-2C). Further, similarrecord contents may be recorded to the home server 7 b. For verificationof the subscriber 1, the record contents are transmitted from thetransmitting/receiving section 5 a of the health care apparatus 5 of thehealth care center to the cellular phone 10 (step S17 in FIGS. 2A-2C).FIG. 5 shows an example of a disclosure-information screen to bedisplayed on the screen of the cellular phone 10. In FIG. 5, “2/4 2:40:Pharmaceuticals were administered” is displayed. Also, as the contentsof administration, “Vitamin C: 100 mg” and “Vitamin E: 10 mg” aredisplayed. Like this, the disclosure information includes administrationtime, drug name, quantity, and the like.

Thus, the control means 41 that controls administration operations bythe pharmaceutical administration device 12 (an example of thepharmaceutical administration means) evaluates the association between adiagnostic result and the pharmaceuticals 13, and performs a decisionprocess as to the presence or absence of an administration operation, areconfirmation process for the diagnosis means 6, or a report to thetest subject person. For example, an analysis is performed on the actualpharmaceuticals 13 by the pharmaceutical analysis means 40 as describedabove, or a decision is made as to a mere data-basis consistency betweenthe diagnostic result data and the pharmaceutical 13 data, where if itis decided that there is an error between the diagnostic result and thepharmaceuticals 13 or that there is an error in dosage amount, aconfirmation is made beforehand so as to further assure the safety ofthe subject person to which the pharmaceuticals 13 are administered.Also, urging the subject person to make reports makes it possible toprovide an awaking to health care as well as an ease of mind to thesubject person.

Further, the physical-condition detection means for detecting healthstatus and biorhythm of the test subject person, or a timer, is furtherprovided, and the pharmaceuticals 13 are administered in considerationof the physical condition of the test subject person or the dosage timeof the pharmaceuticals 13. As a result of this, it becomes possible toadminister the pharmaceuticals 13 by taking into consideration thesubject person's feeling, the dosage timing of the pharmaceuticals 13(between meals, after meals, etc.).

Also, although the selection of the pharmaceuticals 13 is done on theserver 7 a side in the first embodiment, it is also possible that thecontrol means 41 itself is provided with data concerning theconstitution such as allergy of the test subject person and/or data ofthe pharmaceuticals 13 that are currently administered, wherepharmaceuticals 13 to be administered are selected based on the dataconcerning the constitution and the data concerning the pharmaceuticals13. As a result of this, also in actual administration, it becomespossible to fulfill administration of pharmaceuticals 13 that match theconstitution of the subject person or that cause less side effects withthe currently administered pharmaceuticals 13.

Further, in the case where the pharmaceutical administration device 12has no automatic administration function or where the extractedpharmaceutical 13 is such a type of pharmaceutical that cannot beautomatically administered such as internal medicines, the subscriber 1himself/herself takes the pharmaceutical by using the pharmaceuticaladministration device 12 (steps S13, S54 in FIGS. 2A-2C). Thepharmaceutical administration device 12 in this case may offer thepharmaceuticals 13 in a pharmaceutical stock such as a medicine box thatis used by the subscriber for administration. The administration recordsmay be transmitted by the pharmaceutical administration device 12 fromthe transmitting/receiving section 5 a of the health care apparatus 5 ofthe health care center via the health-care-system exclusive line 11(steps S55, S16 in FIGS. 2A-2C) or may be done by the subscriber 1 via acellular phone line 9 (step S52 in FIGS. 2A-2C). In either case,administration records transmitted to the transmitting/receiving section5 a of the health care apparatus 5 of the health care center arerecorded to the server 7 a, and the record contents are transmitted fromthe transmitting/receiving section 5 a of the health care apparatus 5 ofthe health care center to the cellular phone 10 of the subscriber 1, forconfirmation's sake (steps S17, S53 in FIGS. 2A-2C). In the case whereall of the pharmaceuticals that should be administered to the subscriber1 have been administered thereto over the above operations, theoperations of this health care system come to an end.

Further, a case where the pharmaceutical administration device 12 is notpresent in the home 14 of the subscriber 1 is explained. In this case,the subscriber 1 takes the pharmaceuticals 13 by himself/herselfaccording to the prescription shown in the diagnostic result transmittedfrom the transmitting/receiving section 5 a of the health care apparatus5 of the health care center to the cellular phone 10 (steps S8, S23 inFIGS. 2A-2C). FIG. 6 shows an example of disclosure information to bedisclosed on the screen of the cellular phone 10. In FIG. 6, “You havecaught a cold” is displayed as a diagnostic result. Further, in theprescription in addition to the diagnostic result, “Tablet A: Twotablets after breakfast” and “Tablet B: One tablet after breakfast” aredisplayed. In the case where the subscriber 1 has already possessed thepharmaceuticals 13 disclosed here, the subscriber 1 takes thepharmaceuticals 13 according to the prescription (steps S24, S31 inFIGS. 2A-2C). Then, the subscriber 1 transmits administration recordsvia the cellular phone line 9 to the transmitting/receiving section 5 aof the health care apparatus 5 of the health care center (step S32 inFIGS. 2A-2C). The transmitted administration records are recorded to theserver 7 a, and the record contents are transmitted from thetransmitting/receiving section 5 a of the health care apparatus 5 of thehealth care center to the cellular phone 10 of the subscriber 1, forconfirmation's sake (step S33 in FIGS. 2A-2C).

In the case where all of the pharmaceuticals 13 that should beadministered to the subscriber 1 have been administered thereto over theabove operations, the operations of this health care system come to anend.

It is noted that the diagnostic result including the prescriptiontransmitted to the subscriber 1, other than the display on the cellularphone 10, may also be provided in such a way that the subscriber 1accesses the home page 8 (step S5 in FIGS. 2A-2C), or that the healthcare apparatus 5 of the health care center transmits the diagnosticresult as an e-mail to the subscriber 1 so as to allow the subscriber 1to view this. In the case where a home page or an e-mail is utilized, apersonal computer is used and therefore information more specific thanthe cellular phone 10 can be viewed. For example, as shown in FIG. 7,inserting package photographs of pharmaceuticals to be administered canmake the likelihood of misuse lower than when only text information istransmitted. In FIG. 7, “Asthma” is displayed as a diagnostic result.Also, in the prescription in addition to the diagnostic result, “Theodur100 mg tablet: Four tablets after breakfast” and “Predonine 5 mg tablet:Two tablets after breakfast” are displayed, while photographs of theindividual tablets are also displayed.

Next, a case where the pharmaceutical 13 which should be administered tothe subscriber 1 is not present (steps S24, S25 in FIGS. 2A-2C), or isin short (steps S12, S21 in FIGS. 2A-2C), in the pharmaceutical stock isexplained. The pharmaceutical administration device 12 transmitsinformation including the types, product names, quantities, drug prices,and the like of the pharmaceuticals 13, which should be administered butcould not be done to the subscriber 1, to the transmitting/receivingsection 5 a of the health care apparatus 5 of the health care center viathe health-care-system exclusive line 11, and records the information tothe server 7 a (steps S21, S4 in FIGS. 2A-2C). Then, the information asto the pharmaceuticals 13 that were not administered is transmitted tothe subscriber 1 from the transmitting/receiving section 5 a of thehealth care apparatus 5 of the health care center via the cellular phoneline 9, and the subscriber 1 administers the pharmaceuticals 13 byhimself/herself in some other way (steps S4 to S8, S23, S24, S31, S25 inFIGS. 2A-2C)

In most cases, the subscriber 1 goes out from his/her home 14 and goesto company or school day by day. Hereinbelow, a description is given ona case where the subscriber 1 works at a company 22. The subscriber 1visits a health care room 23, which is provided in the company 22 orwhich is a section tied up with the company 22 and takes charge ofhealth care for employees of the company 22 (step S25 in FIGS. 2A-2C). Aperson 25 in charge of the health care room 23 distributespharmaceuticals 24 to the subscriber 1. The distributed pharmaceuticals24 may be based on information which has been acquired by the person 25accessing the home page 8 with a permission obtained from any one of thesubscriber 1, the health care apparatus 5 of the health care center, andthe health insurance society via the Internet 21, which is an example ofthe fourth transmission means, and a transmitting/receiving section 5 bof the health care apparatus 5 of the health care center by using apersonal computer 26 (steps S26, S27 in FIGS. 2A-2C), or may be based oninformation transmitted from the transmitting/receiving section 5 b ofthe health care apparatus 5 of the health care center to the cellularphone 10 of the subscriber 1 (step S50 in FIGS. 2A-2C).

Upon completion of the distribution and administration of thepharmaceuticals 24 to the subscriber 1 (steps S28, S51 in FIGS. 2A-2C),administration records including the types, product names, quantities,drug prices, selling prices, and the like of the pharmaceuticals 24 aretransmitted to the transmitting/receiving section 5 a of the health careapparatus 5 of the health care center (step S29 in FIGS. 2A-2C). Theadministration records may be transmitted by the person 25 in charge viathe Internet 21, or may be transmitted by the subscriber 1 via thecellular phone line 9 (step S52 in FIGS. 2A-2C). In either case, thetransmitted administration records are recorded to the server 7 a, andthe record contents are transmitted to the cellular phone 10 of thesubscriber 1 (steps S30, S53 in FIGS. 2A-2C).

In the case where all of the pharmaceuticals 24 that should beadministered to the subscriber 1 have been administered thereto over theabove operations, the operations of this health care system come to anend. Then, if distribution and administration of the pharmaceuticals 24has been done, at least any one of the types, product names, quantities,drug prices, and selling prices of the pharmaceuticals 24 is added andrecorded to an area within the server 7 a where information related tothe subscriber 1 has been stored and accumulated.

In addition, even if the subscriber 1 is a student who goes to school,it is needless to say that he or she can receive similar services at ahealth care department in the school such as school infirmary.

Further, in a case where the subscriber 1 does not attend the office 22(in the cases of holidays, business trips, etc.), the subscriber 1 canreceive similar services even at a town pharmacy 44 (steps S25-S30 inFIGS. 2A-2C). If the pharmacy has previously contracted with the healthinsurance society to which the subscriber 1 belongs, it is implementableto fulfill the viewing of diagnostic results of the subscriber 1 (stepS27 in FIGS. 2A-2C), the distribution of the pharmaceuticals 24, thetransmission and recording of distribution (administration) records tothe transmitting/receiving section 5 b of the health care apparatus 5 ofthe health care center, and the like by using the personal computer 26connected to the Internet 21, or by using the cellular phone 10 of thesubscriber 1, all as in the case of the services received by the healthcare room 23 (steps S29, S30 in FIGS. 2A-2C). Also, even if the pharmacyhas not contracted with the health insurance society to which thesubscriber 1 belongs, it becomes possible, given a permission by any oneof the subscriber 1, the health care apparatus 5 of the health carecenter, and the health insurance society, to fulfill the viewing ofdiagnostic results of the subscriber 1, the selling of thepharmaceuticals 24, the transmission and recording of selling(administration) records to the transmitting/receiving section 5 b ofthe health care apparatus 5 of the health care center, and the like inall. Further, it is much preferable that the place for reception of thepharmaceuticals 24, even if other than a pharmacy, is a highlyconvenient place for the subscriber 1, such as a convenience store or astation's kiosk. It is noted that the reckoning process for the chargeof the pharmaceuticals 24 is, preferably, collectively implemented bythe health care apparatus 5 of the health care center that performscentralized information control.

Furthermore, it is also possible that the subscriber 1 obtains andadministers the pharmaceuticals 24 as the subscriber 1 stays at home 14.The subscriber 1 asks the pharmacy 44 to delivery the pharmaceuticals24. The person 25 in charge of the pharmacy 44 prepares thepharmaceuticals 24, and a deliverer 45 delivers this to the subscriber 1(steps S25, S40 in FIGS. 2A-2C). The delivered pharmaceuticals 24 may bebased on information which has been acquired by the person 25 in chargeaccessing the home page 8 with a permission obtained from any one of thesubscriber 1, the health care apparatus 5 of the health care center, andthe health insurance society via the Internet 21, which is an example ofthe fourth transmission means, and the transmitting/receiving section 5b of the health care apparatus 5 of the health care center by using apersonal computer 26 (steps S41, S42 in FIGS. 2A-2C), or may be notifiedby the subscriber 1 when the subscriber 1 requests the delivery (stepS46 in FIGS. 2A-2C).

Upon completion of the delivery of the pharmaceuticals 24 to thesubscriber 1, administration of the pharmaceuticals 24 to the subscriber1 is performed automatically or manually (steps S43, S47 in FIGS.2A-2C), and the administration records including the types, productnames, quantities, drug prices, selling prices, and the like of thepharmaceuticals 24 are transmitted to the transmitting/receiving section5 a of the health care apparatus 5 of the health care center (step S44in FIGS. 2A-2C). The administration records may be transmitted by theperson 25 in charge via the Internet 21 or transmitted by the subscriber1 via the cellular phone line 9 to the transmitting/receiving section 5a of the health care apparatus 5 of the health care center (step S48 inFIGS. 2A-2C). In either case, the transmitted administration records arerecorded to the server 7 a, and the record contents are transmitted tothe cellular phone 10 of the subscriber 1 (steps S45, S49 in FIGS.2A-2C).

In the case where all of the pharmaceuticals 24 that should beadministered to the subscriber 1 have been administered to thesubscriber 1 over the above operations, the operations of this healthcare system come to an end. Then, at least any one of the types, productnames, quantities, drug prices, and selling prices of thepharmaceuticals 24 is added and recorded to an area within the server 7a where information related to the subscriber 1 has been stored andaccumulated.

Next, advertisements of pharmaceuticals or health foods suited todiagnostic results of the subscriber 1 are explained. An advertisingagency 31 permitted by the subscriber 1 and/or the health care apparatus5 of the health care center and/or the health insurance society viewsthe home page 8 via the Internet 35 and a transmitting/receiving section5 c of the health care apparatus 5 of the health care center. Theadvertising agency 31 has received requests for advertisements ofcommodity products from a plurality of clients 32 a, 32 b, . . . , andfrom thereamong, selects pharmaceuticals suited to the health status ofthe subscriber 1. In this selection, for example, advertisements ofcommodities of pharmaceuticals or the like suited to the analytical dataand/or diagnostic results are selected and disclosed to the test subjectperson. Here is explained a case where a commodity ‘a’ of a client 32 ais suited. The advertising agency 31 instructs, via the Internet 36, acable television station 33 to which the subscriber 1 has subscribed soas to put on-air a television commercial of the commodity ‘a’ during aprogram that the subscriber 1 is viewing. The cable television station33 distributes the television commercial of the commodity ‘a’ via acable television network 34, which is an example of the fifthtransmission means, to a television (the advertisement disclosure means)15 owned by the subscriber 1. For purchase of the commodity ‘a’, it isalso possible that the subscriber 1 transmits his/her will of purchaseto the cable television station 33 via the cable television network 34,and the client 32 a makes delivery of the pharmaceutical.

As described hereinabove, by using this health care system, it becomesfeasible for the subscriber 1 to enjoy proper medical services such ashealth advice or administration of pharmaceuticals at proper timingwhile keeping his/her own life pattern, and therefore to easily fulfillthe daily health care or the onset control of various diseases.

It is noted that the present invention is not limited to the aboveembodiments, and may be embodying carried out in other various modes.

For example, the first embodiment has been described on cases where thefirst, second, third, and fourth transmission means are the Internet 4,the cellular phone line 9, the health-care-system exclusive line 11, andthe Internet 21, as examples, respectively. However, each of those maybe any one of a wire telephone line, a wireless telephone line, theInternet, a cable television network, and a health-care-system exclusiveline without any problem. Besides, all or arbitrary two or arbitrarythree means of the first, second, third, and fourth transmission meansmay preferably be implemented by any one of a wire telephone line, awireless telephone line, the Internet, a cable television network, and ahealth-care-system exclusive line.

Also, although the first embodiment has been described on a case wherethe fifth transmission means is the cable television network 34, yet thefifth transmission means may be implemented by a wire telephone line, awireless telephone line, the Internet, a cable television network, ahealth-care-system exclusive line, mail, a newspaper, or a home deliveryservice without any problem. Still, the communication medium foradvertisements may be voice, e-mail, FAX, Internet advertisement, directmail, newspaper advertisement, newspaper-inserted advertisement (anadvertising leaflet), etc., in addition to television commercials,preferably in each case.

Further, although the first embodiment has been described on a casewhere the information terminal device owned by the subscriber 1 is thecellular phone 10, yet the information terminal device may be one thatallows the subscriber 1 to perform the transmission and reception ofinformation at his/her discretion, such as a fixed telephone, a personalcomputer, a PDA equipped with communication function, and a carnavigation system equipped with communication function, without anyproblem.

Then, diagnostic results transmitted to the cellular phone 10 of thesubscriber 1 may be via voice or e-mail, and are preferably fulfilledeven by FAX or information input using the Internet or the like.

Also, the communication medium for the information related toadministered pharmaceuticals, which is to be transmitted to thetransmitting/receiving section 5 a of the health care apparatus 5 of thehealth care center, may be voice, e-mail, FAX, information input usingthe Internet, or the like without any problem.

Further, the diagnostic results transmitted to the subscriber 1 mayindeed be transferred to the subscriber 1 as mere voice information ortext information, but it is much preferable that the subscriber 1preparatorily sets the information terminal device such as a personaldigital assistant (PDA) owned by the subscriber 1 (the cellular phone 10in the first embodiment) so that an imaginary character at thesubscriber 1's gusto notifies the subscriber 1 of the contents ofdiagnostic results or advice in a friendly manner (e.g., as voiceinformation and/or image information). Whereas diagnostic results,health care advice, or nutritional advice, and the like often tend to bereceived as peremptory, coercive commands or instructions, suchreceptions can be relaxed more or less in the notification to thesubscriber 1, so that the actual effect of this health care system isenhanced dramatically. As the imaginary character, preferably used aresynthesized images or photographed images of existing entertainers,sport professionals, family, friends, and the like, dramatis personae'simages of animations, personified animals, and the like.

According to the present invention, as described above, there areprovided advantageous effects that a person receives proper medicalservices at proper timing, which makes it easily achievable for theperson to maintain a good health status and prevent various diseases.

It is noted that properly combining any arbitrary embodiments among theforegoing various embodiments makes it possible to produce workingeffects of the individual embodiments.

Although the present invention has been fully described in connectionwith the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to theaccompanying drawings, it is to be noted that various changes andmodifications are apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes andmodifications are to be understood as included within the scope of thepresent invention as defined by the appended claims unless they departtherefrom.

1. a health care system comprising: a sampling means placed within ahouse of a test subject person and serving for sampling body fluid ofthe test subject person; an analysis means placed within the house ofthe test subject person and serving for analyzing the sampled bodyfluid; a diagnosis means for diagnosing a health status of the testsubjectperson from analytical data obtained by the analysis means; aserver for storing and accumulating health care information includingthe analytical data and/or a diagnostic result of the diagnosisperformed by the diagnosis means; and a health-care-information displaydevice which is placeable at least within the house and which serves forreceiving the health care information and displaying the health careinformation.
 2. The health care system as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe diagnosis means and the server are placed outside the house ofthetest subject person; and the display device receives the diagnosticresult derived from the diagnosis means placed outside the house of thetest subject person and displays the diagnostic result.
 3. The healthcare system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the diagnosis means comprisesan in-house diagnosis means placed within the house of the test subjectperson, and an out-of-house diagnosis means placed outside the house ofthe test subject person; and wherein the server comprises an in-houseserver placed within the house of the test subject person, and anout-of-house server placed outside the house of the test subject person,and in diagnosing the health status of the test subject person from theanalytical data by the in-house diagnosis means, upon a decision thatthe analytical data have departed from a permissible range showing astate of healthiness, the in-house diagnosis means transmits theanalytical data to the out-of-house diagnosis means and the out-of-houseserver outside the house of the test subject person, the health statusof the test subject person is diagnosed from the received analyticaldata by means of the out-of-house diagnosis means, and aftertransmitting the diagnostic result made by the out-of-house diagnosismeans to the display device, the diagnostic result is displayed by meansof the display device.
 4. The health care system as claimed in claim 1,further comprising: a pharmaceutical administration means which isplaced within the house of the test subject person and which serves forpreparing and/or administering a pharmaceutical to be administered tothe test subject person based on the diagnostic result; and a controlmeans which is placed within the house of the test subject person andwhich serves for controlling administration operation of thepharmaceutical administration means.
 5. The health care system asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the server stores and accumulates personaldata including historical data of the test subject person such ashistorical data of analytical data, historical data of diagnosticresults, historical data of pharmaceutical administration, andhistorical data of effects of pharmaceutical administration given to thetest subject person, constitutional data of allergy or the like, orgenetic information data, and the like, and the diagnosis means performsa diagnosis based on the personal data including the historical data ofthe test subject person such as the historical data of analytical data,the historical data of diagnostic results, the historical data ofpharmaceutical administration, and the historical data of effects ofpharmaceutical administration given to the test subject person, theconstitutional data of allergy or the like, or the genetic informationdata of the test subject person.
 6. The health care system as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the server stores and accumulates personal dataincluding the test subject person's historical data such as historicaldata of analytical data, historical data of diagnostic results,historical data of pharmaceutical administration, and historical data ofeffects of pharmaceutical administration given to the test subjectperson, constitutional data of allergy or the like, or geneticinformation data, and the like, for making the personal data availableas an integrated database that has been analyzed and statisticallyprocessed on a subscriber basis; and the diagnosis means performs adiagnosis based on the integrated database obtained by analyzing andstatistically processing, on a subscriber basis, the personal datastored and accumulated in the server and including the historical dataof the test subject person such as the historical data of analyticaldata, the historical data of diagnostic results, the historical data ofpharmaceutical administration, and the historical data of effects ofpharmaceutical administration given to the test subject person, theconstitutional data of allergy or the like, or the genetic informationdata of the test subject person.
 7. The health care system as claimed inclaim 1, further comprising a disclosure means for disclosing theanalytical data and/or the diagnostic result to at least any one of thetest subject person, a person permitted by the test subject person, anda person permitted by a health care organization to which the testsubject person belongs.
 8. The health care system as claimed in claim 1,wherein the analytical data and/or the diagnostic result stored andaccumulated in the server are stored and accumulated in the server asthe analytical and/or diagnostic result and a pharmaceuticaladministered to the test subject person are associated with each other.9. The health care system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the serverstores and accumulates the constitutional data related to constitutionof allergy or the like of the test subject person and the geneticinformation data of the test subject person, and wherein the diagnosismeans queries the constitutional data related to the constitution ofallergy or the like ofthe test subject person or the genetic informationdata of the test subject person stored and accumulated in the server toimplement disclosure of advice effective for the test subject person oradministration and preparation of a pharmaceutical effective for thetest subject person as the diagnostic result.
 10. The health care systemas claimed in claim 1, wherein the control means controls dosing time orquantity of the pharmaceutical or type of the pharmaceutical withconsiderations given to a physical condition of the test subject person,pharmaceuticals that have already been administered, and pharmaceuticalsthat are scheduled to be administered.
 11. The health care system asclaimed in claim 10, further comprising a sleep-state detection meansfor detecting a sleep state ofthe test subject person, wherein after itis confirmed by the sleep-state detection means that the test subjectperson is in a sleep, the control means administers the pharmaceuticalto the test subject person.
 12. The health care system as claimed inclaim 4, wherein the pharmaceutical administration means includes apharmaceutical analysis means, and a pharmaceutical to be administeredto the test subject person is analyzed by the pharmaceutical analysismeans, thereby confirming that a result of the analysis agrees with thepharmaceutical described in a prescription contained in the diagnosticresult.
 13. The health care system as claimed in claim 4, wherein atleast one of type, product name, quantity, drag price, and selling priceof the pharmaceutical that has been administered to the test subjectperson by the pharmaceutical administration means is recorded to an areawithin the server where information related to the test subject personis stored and accumulated.
 14. The health care system as claimed inclaim 1, further comprising an advertisement disclosure means fordisclosing to the test subject person an advertisement of a commodity ofa pharmaceutical adapted to the displayed analytical data and/ordiagnostic result.
 15. The health care system as claimed in claim 1,wherein the diagnostic result transmitted to the test subject person istransferred to the test subject person as voice information and/or imageinformation by an imaginary character previously set based on the testsubject person's gusto.
 16. A health care method comprising, in a statethat a database is possessed in a server, the database being at leastone database out of: a database of personal data which includeshistorical data of a test subject person such as historical data ofanalytical data, historical data of diagnostic results, historical dataof pharmaceutical administration, and historical data of effects ofpharmaceutical administration given to the test subject person,constitutional data of allergy or the like, or genetic information data,and the like of the test subject person; an integrated database which isobtained by analyzing and statistically processing the personal data ofthe test subject person; and a database which is of standard data suchas data of diagnostic indices, data of pharmaceuticals, human effectindication data, or prescription-related data: transmitting to adiagnosis means analytical data derived from an analysis of body fluidof the test subject person; diagnosing a health status of the testsubject person by the diagnosis means based on the analytical data andthe database possessed in the server; and preparing and/or administeringa pharmaceutical to the test subject person based on the diagnosticresult.